Riz Ahmed cover star for Time magazine’s 100 most influential

Rogue One actor Riz Ahmed has been made a cover star for Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential figures in the world.

Ahmed leads the way for the pioneers list, with other categories honouring icons, artists and leaders.

Oscar winners Viola Davis and John Legend are the respective cover stars for icons and artists.

Ed Sheeran and James Corden also made the list, with their tributes written by Taylor Swift and Sir Elton John.

‘Quietly pursuing every passion’

Ahmed’s tribute is written by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. The actor and musician contributed a rap to the Hamilton Mixtape and Miranda explains why he is a named as a pioneer.

“Riz Ahmed has been quietly pursuing every passion and opportunity for many years as an actor (The Road to Guantanamo, Four Lions, Nightcrawler), rapper (Post 9/11 Blues, Englistan) and activist (raising funds for Syrian refugee children, advocating representation at the House of Commons).

“To know him is to be inspired, engaged and ready to create alongside him. The year 2016 was when all the seeds he planted bore glorious fruit, and here’s the best part: he’s just getting started.”

Riz tweeted his thanks to Time and Lin-Manuel for his “love” and “support”, which he said he hopes to earn.

Moonlight director Barry Jenkins and Selma director Ava Duvernay have also made the list.

Image copyrightTime

Meryl Streep has written about Viola Davis for the magazine, pointing out her “hard-won, midlife rise to the very top of her profession has not led her to forget the rough trip she took getting there”.

“And that is why she embodies for all women, but especially for women of colour, the high-wire rewards of hard work and a dream, risk and faith.”

Scorsese and Mirren pay tributes

Harry Belafonte has written the tribute to John Legend calling him a “wonderful artist” and “remarkable lyricist” and praised his activism.

“John uses his platform to push for meaningful social change, and the depth of his commitment is to be admired,” he writes.

Other stars to make the list are Demi Lovato, Chance the Rapper, Emma Stone and Margot Robbie, whose tribute is written by Martin Scorsese.

Helen Mirren has written about Ryan Reynolds, Russell Crowe has written a tribute to Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones and Cate Blanchett has written about The People V OJ Simpson actress Sarah Paulson.

Cuba Gooding Sr found dead in LA

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Main Ingredient hits included Everybody Plays The Fool and Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely

Cuba Gooding Sr, the lead singer of 70s soul group Main Ingredient and father of actor Cuba Gooding Jr, has died at the age of 72.

The star was found dead in his car on Thursday in Woodland Hills, California, officials said.

His body was slumped over the wheel of his Jaguar, but there was no suspicion of foul play.

Anonymous sources told the LA Times that drug paraphernalia and alcohol containers were found in the car.

Harlem inspirations

Born in Harlem, New York, the star received his unusual forename from his father, Dudley MacDonald Gooding.

“He told my mother that he would name his first born son Cuba because he once lived in Cuba and had positive feelings about the country,” the musician told the North Dallas Gazette in 2015.

He was encouraged to pursue a singing career by his family.

“My mom and dad were determined that their first-born son would do something in the arts, if I had the talent,” he recalled in a 2014 radio interview.

“Being born in Harlem had its advantages if you wanted to be an entertainer because it was literally… the entertainment capital of the world.

“I lived literally only eight blocks away from the Apollo Theater, and 19 blocks from Carnegie Hall. Although Carnegie Hall required a little bit more sneaking in the back.”

Growing up, he saw the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson play on his doorstep, and resolved to become a singer in his own right.

The other members of Main Ingredient – Tony Sylvester, Luther Simmons Jr and Donald McPherson – were childhood friends, but Gooding Sr initially declined to join the group, having set his sights on a solo career.

But, as the band started to achieve success, he helped out with backing vocals, and stepped up as the lead singer following the death of frontman Donald McPherson in 1971.

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The musician joined his son, Cuba Gooding Jr, at the 2007 premiere of American Gangster

In 1972, they recorded an album, Afrodisiac, which featured several songs written or co-written by Stevie Wonder.

But by 1977, Sylvester and Gooding Sr had both left the band. Gooding Sr signed with Motown Records and released two well-received, but commercially disappointing albums.

He later re-joined Main Ingredient and worked with them through the 1980s.

His son Cuba Gooding Jr is an Oscar-winning actor who appeared in films including Boyz ‘N the Hood, A Few Good Men and Jerry Maguire.

The star had three other children with his wife Shirley Gooding: Omar and April, both of whom are also actors, and musician Tommy Gooding, who served as the musical director of his father’s touring band.

Cabbage have denied claims their lead singer assaulted a female audience member at one of their gigs.

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A woman who attended the Wednesday night gig – but not the person said to have been assaulted – claimed on social media to have seen the incident.

The band strongly deny the accusations made against singer Lee Broadbent.

Nicole Rushworth said Cabbage’s performance was poor and claims he was “so off his head” that he was unable to remove his own guitar strap.

“Lead singer Lee Broadbent sexually assaulted a young woman at the show,” she wrote on Twitter, adding that the young woman had been attending the show with her dad.

“He proceeded to put his hand down his trousers, fondle himself, then rub his hand over the girl, ragging on her hair,” she claims.

Image caption The Kentish Town Forum is a 2,100 person capacity venue in north London

Nicole claims the dad made a complaint to security at the venue who then brought Lee Broadbent to apologise, but she claims he “got aggressive” with the girl’s dad.

Cabbage were supporting Kasabian when the incident was said to have occurred.

The venue, O2 Kentish Town Forum, would not comment when Newsbeat contacted them.

Cabbage’s representative have yet to respond to a request from the BBC for a statement but the band posted a response to the claims saying they “deny the accusations put against Lee this morning,” but which confirmed a complaint had been made.

“His hands were never down his trousers although he did go down to the barrier to interact with the crowd, as he does at all Cabbage shows,” it reads.

They claim he “took it on himself” to make an apology to the person who made a complaint and shook hands with both the father and daughter in question.

The band says the complaints are “completely unfounded” and that they are shocked and deeply troubled by the “fabrications”.

They say ” We would never engage in any of the actions that this Tweet accuses us of”

Several followers of the band have responded to Cabbage’s tweet to say that they also witnessed the incident, while other fans welcomed hearing the band’s response to the accusations.

A spokesperson for SafeGigs4Women says the charity has offered assistance to both the band and fans involved in the alleged incident.

“We have now seen Cabbage’s statement, and we’d be happy to discuss the matter and issues of consent in the context of the artist/fan relationship during a gig with them if they are willing,” said the charity in a statement given to Newsbeat.

“We’d also be happy to provide referrals to the girl and her father if they feel the need for them, as we do everyone who comes to us.”

Scotland Yard tells Newsbeat that there was no report of this alleged incident to the police.

The actress questioned whether she was “resisting her on some level. It’s something I’ve thought a lot about in terms of when I get scripts to be directed by women”.

Hathaway told the Popcorn with Peter Travers show: “When I get a script, when I see a first film directed by a woman, I have in the past focused on what was wrong with it. And when I see a film… directed by a man, I focus on what’s right with it.

“I can only acknowledge that I’ve done that and I don’t want to do that anymore … I, before I realised this, had actively tried to work with female directors. And I still had this mindset buried in there somewhere.”

‘Never apologised’

But the actress added that she knows how difficult it is for women to get “the reins to anything”.

“That journey is way harder than it should be. It’s not equal,” she said.

“And I wonder if it’s about the thought process like the one I just talked about. About undervaluing what it takes to make your first film.”

Hathaway said she would call Scherfig after the interview to apologise.

“I’ve never apologised to her about it,” she said.

“It wasn’t an issue of professionalism. I hold her in such a dear place in my heart and I think she does for me, too.”

A representative for Scherfig told ABC News: “Lone Scherfig is deep in pre-production of her next film and is consumed by it. She asked me to express her love and admiration for Anne and her work.”

Hathaway has long been an advocate for women’s rights and is a women’s goodwill ambassador for the United Nations (UN).

She made a speech on International Women’s Day last month at the UN calling on companies and countries around the world to offer paid parental leave.

Prince is wearing a wig in Purple Rain

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A portrait of Prince from Steve Parke’s new book, Picturing Prince

Prince’s former art director Steve Parke recently published a book featuring the intimate, behind-the-scenes photographs he took of the star during his time at Paisley Park.

He also recounts the time Prince invited him to watch a montage of old performances he was preparing for the American Music Awards. When a scene from Purple Rain appeared, the star bellowed, “Look at that wig!” and burst out laughing.

Parke later asked Prince’s hair stylist Earl Jones about the comment. He explained the star had had to reshoot a few scenes after the filming wrapped – but he had already cut his hair and bleached it blond – necessitating the bouffant hairpiece.

Jones added that Prince had reacted so badly to the bleach that his hair started breaking off, so he had to let it grow out, and dye it back to black.

“The hairstyle in Raspberry Beret was literally all I could do with it.”

He had a vicious mean streak

Image copyrightPA

It’s no secret that Prince was a perfectionist – but some of the stories that emerged after his death highlighted the star’s ruthless attitude towards his bandmates.

“He did like to push the band with fear,” said Michael B Nelson, who played trombone for the New Power Generation.

One night, months into 1993’s Act I tour, Nelson missed a high B during his solo on a song called The Flow.

“The next day, [Prince] came by and said, ‘You’re gonna play that solo right tonight?'” he told Rolling Stone. “I said, ‘I’ll do my best.’ And he says, ‘Uh, you did your best last night.’ And he walks away.”

That night, when it came to the solo, Prince walked up to him with his “golden gun” microphone (pictured above) and held it to his head.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ And he kept doing it. And it was like a week of him doing this, and I’m freaking out. It wasn’t showbiz at that point. It was, ‘Don’t you ever do that again’.”

His final shopping spree included CDs by Stevie Wonder, and a cup of coffee

Image copyrightInstagram / Prince Live The Best

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Prince was pictured riding his bicycle through Minneapolis shortly before his death

Five days before his death, Prince celebrated Record Store Day by cycling to his local record store and snapping up a few bargains.

According to Bob Fuchs, the manager of Electric Fetus, the star bought six CDs:

Stevie Wonder – Talking Book

Chambers Brothers – The Time Has Come

Joni Mitchell – Hejira

Swan Silvertones – Inspirational Gospel Classics

Missing Persons – The Best Of Missing Persons

Santana – Santana IV

Prince then set off on his bike, waving to fans at a nearby hair salon before visiting a local coffee store. According to barista, Alya Al-Hilwani, he preferred a mocha, with no whipped cream.

He secretly bought the Purple Rain house

Image copyrightCOLDWELL BANKER BURNET

In summer 2015, the Minneapolis house that featured as Prince’s childhood home in the film Purple Rain went up for sale. It turns out that Prince bought it himself.

Minnesota Public Radio checked property records and discovered the owner of the 1913 house, at 3420 Snelling Avenue, Minneapolis, was NPG Music Publishing – one of Prince’s companies.

The initial asking price was just $110,000, but Prince paid $117,000 in cash to secure the property.

After his death, Prince’s estate put it up for sale, saying “the costs of repair and ongoing maintenance” were such that keeping hold of the house was “not in the Estate’s best interest”.

Prince outsold Adele and Drake last year

Image copyrightPA

Incredibly, Prince was the biggest-selling artist in the US last year, in terms of album sales. He shifted more than 2.2 million albums in the months after his death, partly because his music was unavailable on the major streaming platrforms.

He was the only artist to sell more than one million digital and physical albums in 2016; and sold a total of 5.4 million digital songs, putting him ahead of Drake and Adele.

When his music finally became available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Google Play this February, it was streamed 17 million times in one week – with Purple Rain alone racking up 1 million plays.

He travelled under the name Peter Bravestrong

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Prince had many aliases – most famously changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol in the 1990s

Prince had many aliases as a songwriter – Alexander Nevermind, Joey Coco and Jamie Starr, to name but a few.

But unsealed court documents show, released earlier this week, show that the star, an intensely private person, travelled under the name Peter Bravestrong to help conceal his identity.

That name was on a luggage tag he used while travelling to Atlanta for what proved to be his final concert.

The suitcase was found at Paisley Park after his death, and contained several prescription bottles in the name of Kirk Johnson, a personal friend and employee since the 1980s. (It also contained handwritten lyrics for U Got the Look, according to investigators.)

US authorities are still investigating how Prince obtained the prescription medications which killed him.

He cooked a lot of eggs

Image copyrightAFP

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As well as, presumably, Raspberry Sorbet

As bandmates and friends lined up to pay tribute to Prince, they all seemed to have one memory in common: Eggs.

“You know, he barely ate. I was always starving around him. I was always freaking hungry.”

“Prince was never an eater,” agreed Cat Glover, who joined him on the Sign O The Times and Lovesexy tours. “He would usually smell his food. Literally. I never really seen Prince eat. I’ve seen him make pancakes – he made me pancakes, he made me eggs. But he’s not the type of person that eats a lot.

“Yeah, he has made me scrambled eggs,” said dancer Misty Copeland. “Breakfast was his forte. He liked to use a lot of seasoning. They were delicious.”

It’s worth noting that Prince himself did not carry an eggy whiff.

“Ever since I’ve known Prince, I’ve attached a smell to him, which is lavender,” Madonna once said. “He reeks of it.”

He destroyed a windmill

Image copyrightPrince.org

One of the other properties put up for sale by Prince’s estate was a huge, 160-acre estate near Lake Ann in Chanhassen, which was valued at almost $14 million.

It once contained a yellow three-story mansion-style house, complete with a home studio, where portions of Sign O’ the Times and The Black Album were recorded.

“There were a couple of summer nights where we could hear music coming through the woods,” Juli Gempler, who lived next door, told ABC News after his death. “Nice and loud. It was good. It was really cool.”

The property even had its own windmill – also bright yellow – where Prince presumably spent many a happy hour milling organic flour before baking a nice batch loaf.

Sadly, though, he had the house and the windmill torn down in the 1990s. Satellite images now show the property as a vast expanse of green fields and woodland, except for a lone tennis court.

We’ll be hearing new Prince music for the rest of our lives

Image copyrightGetty Images

Shortly after Prince’s death, the legendary “vault” that contained his archive of concert recordings, unreleased songs and rehearsal tapes was drilled open.

According to the singer’s former recording engineer Susan Rodgers, who started the vault for Prince during the 1980s, the facility was almost full when she left in 1987, with songs in there that pre-date his legendary Purple Rain album.

“We used to do two songs a day, and he just put them away,” added his friend and engineer David Z. In fact, there’s so much music waiting to be released, “it probably won’t be tapped out in our lifetime,” said former Paisley Park employee Scott LeGere.

The first release came last year, when the 1999-era track Moonbeam Levels was unearthed for the compilation Prince 4Ever.

This June, an expanded version of Purple Rain is due, containing “two incredible albums of previously unreleased Prince music and two complete concert films,” according to Warner Bros Records. A leaked tracklist suggests fans will finally get to hear studio versions of the much-bootlegged songs Electric Intercourse and Possessed, amongst others.

Prince’s estate has also signed a $30m deal with Universal Music to release non-Warner Bros material – which will hopefully include fan favourites like Extraloveable, Wonderful Ass, Lisa, Train, Rebirth of the Flesh and Big Tall Wall.

There is some speculation that the star didn’t maintain his vault to archival standards, and that some of the tapes may have deteriorated. Furthermore, the process of cataloguing the material hadn’t even begun by the start of this year.

He never rehearsed that solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps

It sees Prince joining an all-star version of the Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps, backed by Tom Petty, Steve Winwood and George Harrison’s son, Dhani. He keeps to the sidelines until the final two minutes, when he steps forward to deliver one of the most breathtaking guitar solos you’ve ever seen, full of fluttering high notes and ringing harmonics.

Amazingly, Prince never rehearsed this moment with the band. At a run-through the night before it was Jeff Lynne’s guitarist, Marc Mann, who took the solo.

“Prince doesn’t say anything, just starts strumming, plays a few leads here and there, but for the most part, nothing memorable,” recalled Joel Gallen, who directed the ceremony.

But when the big moment came, Prince stole the show. At one point, he turned to face Petty and Harrison, then fell backwards into the audience – while still playing – before strutting off stage, throwing his guitar into the air before the song ended.

“You see me nodding at him, to say, ‘Go on, go on,'” Petty told the New York Times. “I remember I leaned out at him at one point and gave him a ‘This is going great!’ kind of look.

“He just burned it up. You could feel the electricity of ‘something really big’s going down here.'”

Prince later claimed he had never even heard the song before it was sent to him to learn for the performance.

Picturing Prince – An Intimate Portrait by Steve Parke is out now, published by Cassell Illustrated.